The Fandomentals

Fire and Brimstone: Black Lightning 2×07, ‘The Sange’

Hi everyone. We’re back in Freeland with our favorite fam this week, a fam which is getting tighter and more powerful than ever. We also barely see Tobias this episode, which, thank goodness.

Last week, Anissa delivered Anaya’s twins and Looker had kidnapped the Black baby but really wanted the white one. This week, Looker manages to capture Black Lightning and chain him up. We all get to hear her spew a bunch of racist bullshit (ugh). I’m honestly not sure what it is about what Anissa later called terrawaves and the silver goo that Looker controls her subjects with that makes them able to overcome Black Lightning, but somehow they manage it. I think maybe Jefferson ran out of electricity? Because he gets recharged when Looker tries to electrocute him to death? It’s disturbing, but I’m glad he gets out of that weird Sange place with the kidnapped twin (hereafter, twin 1) and back to Freeland to meet Anissa and Lynn.

Dream team.

Meanwhile, Anissa and Lynn are hiding out in an abandoned mall with Anaya and the white twin (hereafter, twin 2), for some reason. Presumably because they need to hide from Sange, but it’s still creepy and weird.The silver goo that Anissa’s been carrying around in a little jar in her bag tries to get to the baby on its own. This freaks them out a little, but mostly this scene is a very touching one about mothers and children and how much Anissa and Lynn love each other, which I’m here for.

When Looker does find Anaya et. al, Thunder and Black Lightning handily impale her. It doesn’t kill her but does release her minions from their spell, who wander off in a daze. Black Lightning decides, without much fanfare, that Looker needs to be handed over to the ASA, so we might see something happen with Looker and Lynn, but honestly I hope not.

Anissa, for her part, is lucky enough to still be boo’d up with Grace, which is interesting. I mean, I’m here for woman-loving-woman (wlw) content, I just feel like their relationship hasn’t been given the time of day for us to know what the heck is going on between them. Last time they hooked up, Grace was pretty pissed. Anissa had all but admitted that she uses sex as an emotional crutch when something hard is happening and she couldn’t commit to a relationship. That seemed like a dealbreaker for Grace, but here we are with no explanation as to why they’re still together.

They’re so cute tho.

Grace has another moment of ripple-y veins or whatever it is, which she manages to hide from Anissa. She seems to be able to control what’s going on with some kind of prescription pill, but I can’t tell if Grace really knows what’s happening or not.

Jefferson, in the midst of his woods-walking with twin 1, finds a life transmitter from Gambi’s drone and thus deduces Gambi is alive. He also knows where Gambi’s hiding, because he shows up at his door. They have a sweet moment involving tears, anger, and male bonding, which is nice. Gambi insists it’s safer for Jefferson’s family if his erstwhile assassins think he’s dead. Jefferson says Gambi is his family, and we all melt a little. However, there’s no time for dwelling, because we need to talk about Jen.

Family.

Jen and Kahlil are meeting up a lot these days, and this episode contains their getting-back-together moment. It feels poorly placed. Now, I’m all for Kahlil getting a redemption arc, but much like Grace and Anissa’s relationship, it hasn’t been given time or space to happen yet. Also, I don’t like when women characters are written as making a lot of allowances for men or as needing a man in order to be actualized (but I’m a misandrist so that could just be me). Regardless, one thing I do appreciate about where the writers took this story is that Jen *finally* comes into her own. (Even though the narrative seemed to imply that a man had to love her for that to happen, which, ew).

Jen has been a victim for so long, being told she’s out of control (and that being true sometimes), being isolated, feeling hopeless. But when Tobias sends his cronies to hunt down Kahlil, who refused to kill Reverend Holt and is thus on Tobias’ hit list now, Jen throws them off course. It’s something to do with fire, electricity, and having a disembodied voice. When Kahlil finds her, she’s created a very controlled glowing orb. It’s satisfying to see Jen finally in a position of power in her own life, able to make her own choices, and use her strengths (powers-wise and not powers-wise).

When Lynn gets home late and Jen isn’t there, she and Jefferson go to Perenna to demand she tell them where Jen is. Perenna informs them that she can’t and won’t, because she respects Jen. Also, she doesn’t know. She also says that Jen’s powers are extraordinary by any measure, and if Lynn and Jefferson keep isolating her and trying to control her, “there will be consequences for us all.” I can’t wait to see more Badass Jen in future episodes.

Here for it.

Lastly, and sadly, we find out that Anaya’s mother was lost in the battle with the Sange. It’s a tragedy on it’s own, but I find myself wondering if we will ever see the Perdi again. I’m confused about it.

That’s it for this week, friends! We’re almost done with this season. It’s had a lot of threads to follow, so let’s see what they do with the final few episodes to tie it all together!